North Korea's mobile phone service, which started at the end of last year, uses an electronic mobile platform, produced in China that can be used by anyone and potentially even anonymously, if the user changes the SIM card, RFA said Saturday.
Citing Ashraf Heiba, a representative with Koryolink, a joint venture mobile telecom provider between Orascom Telecom, a Cairo-based phone company, and the North Korean government, it said all the mobile phone platforms are made in China and are "interchangeable" among different users.
"The handsets sold are Chinese and they are sold by the local authority in euro," he said.
The Chinese handsets are trans-usable by different users, by simply using a different SIM card. Although it didn't mention, if that is the case, it opens up the possibility of the phone being used anonymously.
The report didn't say whether a person needs to register his personal information when buying a SIM card. In China, one doesn't.
Orascom launched a mobile service in North Korea in December last year. Currently, mobile phone users there are mostly Pyongyang residents and foreigners, according to Heiba.
The service is still pricy for North Koreans and some of buyers are reselling their phones to others, RFA said.
Heiba said his company plans to add video and music service soon.
Orascom's earnings report for the first six moths reveal that the number of mobile phone users in North Korea through Koryolink increased 149 percent to 47,863, compared to the first quarter.
Koryolink currently runs two local outlets in Pyongyang with a plan to add one more this year. It also plans to increase the number of places that sell prepaid telephone cards from the current three to nine.